My 1973 Ampeg 810 Refurbished (Lots of pics)

[ampegfuzz]

Well a couple months ago i purchased of a very beat up '73 810 cab.
I figured i would just leave it be but it was such a eye sore i had to do something with it. Here it is the day i bought it.



Gouged to hell, no tolex, fire print grill cloth, missing parts galore, and a home made dolly srewed into the bottom of the cab.

I was hanging with a good friend and fellow TB'er basey when he was showing another friend a fearful 15/6 he had built for him.
The cab was in duratex and i thought "Wow, this is nice stuff. I bet it would look killer on that beat 810."
So i asked if he had some left over and would be willing to refin my 810 with it he agreed and the demolition started. Some more before pics:




You can see this is the side he used to load


SVT



Apparently the fire theme wasn't enough so he painted the baffle red too.



You can also see two drivers are not original, im going to put those in the bottom when i put it back together.

All empty and a good shot of the home made dolly


Its got to go


LOOK, i found tolex



Now time for some re finishing
Sanding

Bondo



Sanded Bondo




As you can see i filled in the bottom holes.
I decided to get feet like on the newer Ampeg cabs and put 4 on the bottom and make a dolly cart from some scrap wood and the left over wheels to cradle the 810.

Some painting and re painted the baffle black




And the finally (per se) DURATEX



I got the parts today to put it all back together so next week when i have some left over vaca days to burn ill be finishing the cab.
In the meantime ill make the dolly this weekend to get it ready for the finished cab.
I hope to have everything done for a outdoor gig on saturday the 28th.

Question for you other cab builders and 810 refurber's. I threw away the nasty old insullation.
Any ideas for the new stuff?
Should i just get some new padding and fold it up and stuff it they they did in '73?
Thanks and keep tuned for more

[thombo]

how much duratex did it take?

[ampegfuzz]

He had left over so i have no idea. It has 3 coats though.

[Rushing]

Nice!

[demon666]

Nice. I usually hate the duratex look but I think this will come out really nice with all the original hardware and such. Can't wait to see it all done.

[ampegfuzz]

Couple more pics that were on my phone

Painting



Chillin

[will33]

You can line it with the mattress pad stuff if you want. It'll sound like it's supposed to and the stuff's much nicer to work with. Maybe double thick on the back wall and 1 layer on the sides. Putting new insulation in there is fine too if you want to keep it classic on the inside. That's what the originals had.

Moving the 2 replacement drivers to the bottom is alright too, just verify they're 32 ohms like the rest.

Nice score, man. You're doing that cab a big favor.

The original flatback....still the best sounding cab Ampeg ever made.

[ampegfuzz]

The newer drivers are 32ohm, I checked when I bought it as also checking the date on the old drivers. I think I want to stuff it with something rather then line it to keep it like it was. I just don't know what to use. I was thinking of the bumpy mattress topper, cut in sections and folded like the old stuffing was.

[Lazarus.Bird]

That cab is almost as sexy as the OP.

[demon666]

The old stuff was just regular fiberglass insulation. Probably your cheapest option and you can use the extra to insulate your house.

[JimmyM]

Are you sure the old stuff was fiberglass? My 73 has foam folded over to stuff it.

BTW, ported cabs get lined, sealed cabs get stuffed.

Looks pretty awesome. Not a huge fan of Duratex either, but yours turned out well and looks more like tolex, at least in the pics.

[ampegfuzz]

I'll see what the dollar store has to offer tomorrow.

[demon666]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Are you sure the old stuff was fiberglass? My 73 has foam folded over to stuff it.

BTW, ported cabs get lined, sealed cabs get stuffed.

Looks pretty awesome. Not a huge fan of Duratex either, but yours turned out well and looks more like tolex, at least in the pics.

Mine had regular old fiberglass insulation in it. I'm sure there wasn't many options back then.

[will33]

Polyfill = fancy name for pillow stuffing, available at any fabric store. For stuffing sealed cabs. Some of the later ones had a layer of fiberglass insulation, more what you'd call "lining" rather than "stuffing". If this had more, I'd use the polyfill/pillow stuffing.

There is an Owens Corning type of insulation used in commercial HVAC systems that doesn't shed like the rest if you want to keep it fiberglass.

Type 400 maybe?......can't remember now.

[ampegfuzz]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Are you sure the old stuff was fiberglass? My 73 has foam folded over to stuff it.

BTW, ported cabs get lined, sealed cabs get stuffed.

Looks pretty awesome. Not a huge fan of Duratex either, but yours turned out well and looks more like tolex, at least in the pics.

It's the whole reason I did duratex in the first place. It really looks like tolex and easier to apply IMO. I seen my buddy's cab and thought it was perfect. I seen the herculiner and bed liner stuff and thought it was overkill. But the duratex looks pretty classy IMO. And all you have to do to fix it is paint a little more on.

[askrere]

I got my padding from hobby lobby it was quilt batting, wal mart has cheap egg crate foam too.

Is duratex found in stores? and in colors?

[ampegfuzz]

You can ask my buddy if he chimes in but I think black is the only color. And I think duratex is just a web thing.

[will33]

Originally Posted by askrere

I got my padding from hobby lobby it was quilt batting, wal mart has cheap egg crate foam too.

Is duratex found in stores? and in colors?

Duratex used to be offered in colors. I read something somewhere that this might not be the case anymore in small orders? Something about getting the dye mix right. Don't quote me on that. I haven't seen it in any store, just truckbed liner. Also tough stuff but totally different chemical mix, leaves fumes for days. Duratex is waterbased, much friendlier to work with.


And yeah, quilt batting works nice too. Can layer it up to whatever thickness is desired. I've also kind of pulled it apart/fluffed it up to stuff mid chambers, works good there too in the small little boxes but might be cumbersome/not hang up in there right in those bigger 210 chambers.

[Lazarus.Bird]

Acry-Tech no longer will tint the duratex for you but I believe you can buy either white or clear and have a local painter tint it for you. There has been some discussion on the greenboy forums about it and it is still possible, just not from Acry-Tech (who makes the duratex).

[beans-on-toast]

Very nice work! I bet it sounds great.